The Man Who Shot Chinatown (2007)

Directed by Alex Schill

The life and work of John A. Alonzo is chronicled in this documentary, which explores his failed family life, his revolutionary camera work and lighting techniques. There are various interviews with Roger Ebert, Richard Dreyfuss, Sally Field, and William Friedkin, amongst others.

The documentary talks about how he broke into the industry, what problems he faced as a Mexican American in a primarily white 1950's Hollywood, and how he became more well known than many of his peers through his creative touches on the art and mechanics of cinematography.

True, the techniques and methods of shooting a film that John A. Alonzo implemented into the film world did indeed revolutionize the art of filmmaking in many ways. This is the man that shot Chinatown, Scarface, Harold and Maude, Norma Rae, many famous National Geographic specials from the late 1960's, Vanishing Point, Sounder, The Bad News Bears, Blue Thunder, and Deuces Wild, just to name a few of his films where the visual aesthetic is really the first step forward for the film, the one thing that is really noticeable.

His camerawork would set the tone for wide aspect ratio shooting, where the action was allowed to happen, where the camera became not a point in the story, but rather your eyes for viewing the action, leaning where you wanted it to and going around people you wanted to see past. However, this is not the main point of the documentary, instead it is for the most part a recollection of his life, with a slight touch on the personal, but mostly just a list of the movies he worked on, and a few words about each movie.

There is a lot said about the man, but when we learn that he did not talk to 2 of his daughters for the last 30 years or so of his life, it is never really explained why. The documentary suffers as it is one small part personal piece, another small part professional piece, and mostly just a random collection of snippets of kind words from people who knew and loved him. It's an interesting movie if you are into cinematography, but from any angle you look at it, it is ultimately unfulfilling. I just wish there was more here, from either the personal side, or the professional side. From somewhere. This leaves me wanting more.

6.2/10